Media Blast, Soda Blast or Chemical Strip

[eliotv]

I have a 55 semi that I'm getting ready to restore. My question is what is the best way to strip the vehicle to bare metal? The car has very little rust. I've heard that media blasting can damage the metal. If you dip the vehicle, how do you seal the surfaces that you can't get to (Heater Channels, seams, etc.)?

After getting the pan to bare metal, what do you guys think about sealing the pan with a product like Rust Bullet or POR 15 and then going over that with something like Rhino Liner? Would that be a big NO NO If I was trying to keep the car mostly vintage? Thanks for the input
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Nubby

[3Bugs]

Everyone has their own opinion and experience here so I will just tell you mine.

I blasted my Ghia and yes it did cause problems with warping and stretching in places. It all depends on how good the operator is and what they know about metal. Blasting has almost as many problems as dipping when it comes to sealing everything up. The media gets into places you would not even think were on a beetle.

I striped my other cars with chemical stripper and had a more pleasant experience with it. Its not s bad s you may think. It took me a long weekend to do the entire car in and out. If you search this forum you will find many articles on this subject.

POR 15 is what I used on the pan but many say good things about rust bullet. I used truck bed liner for undercoating and inside the wheel wells but the original VW’s had black shiny pans on the inside.
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3Bugs
Well, actually a 67 Bug, 72 Super, 61 Ghia and a 2004 Beetle Vert (sorry)

[coad]

I'm not trying to sound like a jerk, but you really should use the search function for answers to this question. There's been tons posted on the pro's and con's of each method, and none of them are without a downside.

I think you'll find that dipping has the more serious potential problems, but there's probably an hour's reading right here on The Samba with the case made for and against each method.

A big part of it also depends on the condition of your car and the condition of the existing bodywork and paint. You'll almost need to study the information then apply it to your individual situation.

[eliotv]

I'm new to this site Thanks for the advice.
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Nubby

[coad]

[thebucket]

[Mr. Bungle]

imo, blast. dont dip.

if you think about it, dipping will remove everything from every nook and cranny and in some places it will be tough to get primer/paint in there to cover up the bare metal.

try walnut shells to remove paint and filler and then sand to remove rust. find someone that does acvw's and knows the temperment of the metal. to much sand on one area for too long will create enough heat to warp the metal. especially on large surfaces like hoods and roofs.

por15 or rust bullet is fine. skip the rhino liner.

[2332cc]

Baking Soda blast works well and leaves the metal shiney, exactly like it looked when VW stamped it from day one. A friend's '62 was Baking Soda blasted and it revealed an unscathed ink stamp on the interior of the lid. All metal had very minor to no stress, depending on area structure. Sand blasting is brutal for body panels and dipping, no experience personally, just hear bad things regarding long term problems.

I will have my '55 3 fold Baking Soda blasted and I will chemically hand strip the rest. The pan can be sand blasted with no ill effects.

GOOD LUCK!
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Make it Fast, Make it yours.

[Skim]

[twinwindows]

I have done this two ways MEDIA and Chemical, As far as the media blasting went is that by doing it like that you will have sand in all the tight places then even after you clean and blow it out your still going to have some media spilling around.

The split I have was done with a high grade Chemical and turned out just fine but if you don`t clean it up rite like Skim said you will have a problem later on. Using a hot steam cleaner with some major power takes care of that.

Blasting? Never again, Just the small parts.
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CRG
My builds
BAD TEMPER 11
CHRISTINE
GFK LIFER!

[Rome]

There are places that can dip the entire body into a huge vat to get rid of your paint and underlying seam sealers, body filler, etc. I can imagine that if you have the wiring harness still in the car, the dip process would dissolve it!

I hired a professional body repair instructor from work years ago to do some welding on rust patches on my Beetle at my home, and we then discussed various ways for prepping the body for paint. That particular car had been poorly repainted years ago and it's paint was cracking (spiderweb effect). For a "backyard" approach he recommended using aircraft paint stripper, always lathering on the stuff so that the surface never dries. Put sheets of body masking paper on the ground next to the car. You scrape the paint off the surface (plastic spatula) and let it drop onto the paper. Neutralize the stripper with water, then simply wrap up all that paper and discard it "per local regulations".

I have not tried that method (nor any other) so my input is really not qualified. But seems plausible and you can learn more using the "search" function here. A friend had his Ghia coupe stripped using baking soda blasting (mentioned by somebody here already) with very favorable results.

[Skim]

Unless you redipped the car in a vat of primer like the factory did after it was chemically dipped, you're gonna lose.
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GFK
Samba since before the towers collapsed. Still here.
1953 Kabriolet
1954 Sunroof
1959 Lowlight Ghia vert
1960 Lt Grey Double Cab SMZ LEGIT
1963 Deluxe Turkis Walk Thru 15 Window OG Paint

[53 0val]

I used walnut shells on my '53. Nothing was warped.
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"What a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away." Dobee, Dobee, Do

[El Guero]

paint stripping corp in sante fe springs dips em then sprays on red oxide primer via an electrostatic process followed by baking in it in a 350 degree oven my buddy just had them do his notch and it came out real good ready for Smoot body and paint

[Skim]

A good blaster that has worked with cars will always use a fine soda, walnut shell or plastic media or even a FINE grade sand. he will also know the correct technique on blasting, distance, PSI etc. The reason warpage happens is due to high pressure too close and when you blast something, it should never be head-on. It should always be at an angle that way the hit is never directly on the panel. You want the blasting to graze the body not hit directly. Also, sand blasting gets very hot. For example, If an inexperienced blaster were to sand blast in the dark, the metal will glow red hot where its being hit if the blaster doesnt know what the hell he's doing.
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GFK
Samba since before the towers collapsed. Still here.
1953 Kabriolet
1954 Sunroof
1959 Lowlight Ghia vert
1960 Lt Grey Double Cab SMZ LEGIT
1963 Deluxe Turkis Walk Thru 15 Window OG Paint

[coad]

[bljones]

first, how badly rusted is the car?
dipping is great for parts, and bodyshells with no enclosed, unpaintable surfaces, and unlimited budgets. dipping doesn't do anything other than make a tough job tougher.

don't dip to strip a Vw unless you also plan to dip to paint.
there are no magic bullets.
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OG JHC
Author of Original Rant #1
"It stingd itself to dead... now that is control on you"

2%

[53 0val]

[Hiramhaus]

I found a place that will soda blast my van (small van) for 450 bucks inside and out with doors and deck lid and hood. He said if I had the extra sheet metal it would be 750 for a standard bus. Advanced Blasting in Cedar Rapids, IA. Although they do not primer it when its done, I have to take care of that myself. I imagine that he will miss some places, but we will see.
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1969 Ghia
2016 Audi Q3

[vdubinit]

Wow almost 3 years later, a post....... thats funny
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**WANTED** ONE 4 1/2 EARLY FUCH